SupplyWell’s Top 10 Education Reads will help narrow down some of the best educational books out there, selected from teacher recommendations.
There is no shortage of education books out there, but sometimes you read a book that becomes a game changer and helps recalibrate your outlook on teaching or life in general. With your recommendations we have collated ‘SupplyWell’s Top 10 Education Reads’ to help narrow down some of the best educational books out there!
1. ‘My Secret #EdTech Diary’ by Al Kingsley.
My Secret #EdTech Diary aims to get you thinking about the past, present and future role of educational technology and how it influences and shapes our education system. My Secret #EdTech Diary reflects on the history of EdTech, lessons learned pre and post-Covid, best practice suggestions, how to select the right solutions and the questions you need to consider before pursuing your digital ambitions.
2. Let’s talk About Flex by Emma Turner
Across the education system, although there is a recent groundswell of support for developing more life-friendly, innovative and flexi ways of working, there are still a great deal of misconceptions, biases and prejudices about flexible working and flexible workers. Through her ‘playlist’ of educational floor fillers, Emma explores some of the successful ways in which flexible working can be viewed by both employers and employees for staff at all levels, including senior and school leadership.
3. Retrieval Practice collection by Kate Jones
As part of the successful and popular Retrieval Practice collection by Kate Jones, this practical resource guide is the go-to guide for a wide range of retrieval practice tasks that teachers can use in their classrooms.
There are over fifty evidence-informed and creative, tried and tested, classroom resources and strategies to support retrieval practice. These include starter tasks, tasks to support literacy and revision as well as a range of recommended online quizzing tools.
4. Talk: Write by Ros Wilson
Created by Ros Wilson, Talk:Write is an easily-accessed programme that raises standards in talk, communication, writing, and the general range and richness of vocabulary and language structures for pupils in English speaking schools.
It is a system for enriching language to improve both the quality of talk and the quality of writing. Talk:Write will work alongside existing school programmes for talk and writing – complementing them and enhancing them.
5. Mentoring in Schools: How to become an expert colleague by Haili Hughes
Haili Hughes, a former senior leader with years of school mentoring experience, was involved in the consultation phase of the framework’s design – and in this book she imparts her wisdom on the subject in an accessible way. Haili offers busy teachers a practical interpretation of how to work with the Early Career Framework, sharing practical guidance to help them in the vital role of supporting new teachers. She also shares insights from recent trainee teachers, as well as more established voices in education, to provide tried-and-tested transferable tips that can be used straight away.
6. How to Survive in Teaching: Without imploding, exploding or walking away by Dr Emma Kell
How to Survive in Teaching offers support, advice and practical suggestions to help you and your colleagues stay flourishing, positive and most importantly, stay teaching! Recent statistics show that not enough teachers are entering the profession and that too many are leaving. Teaching is facing a genuine crisis. But why is this? In this thought-provoking book, experienced teacher and leader Dr Emma Kell examines workplace stress and anxiety, conflict and ‘toxic politics’, and the other factors which lead teachers to ultimately decide to walk away.
7. The CRAFT Of Assessment: A whole school approach to assessment for learning by Michael Chiles
In the ‘CRAFT of Assessment’, Michael unpicks the five key principles to support middle and senior leaders in creating a climate for a meaningful, manageable and motivational whole-school approach to assessment through condense, reflect, assess, feedforward and target-driven improvement.
8. Symbiosis: The Curriculum and the Classroom by Kat Howard and Claire Hill
Employing an astute blend of theory and practice, Claire Hill and Kat Howard offer a methodical approach to designing and delivering a curriculum, to ensure that all feel part of a collective curricular journey. At a time when work on the curriculum can be politicised, monetised and overcomplicated, Symbiosis: The Curriculum and the Classroom provides a series of practical strategies for curriculum designers at every level, in order to not only keep and develop the skilled and professional teachers desperately needed in schools, but also to provide a world-class curriculum to students.
9. Courageous Leadership: An hour to quash the tummy flies in your butter! By Diana Osagie
‘I will always feel fear, but I will limit the influence that fear has on my actions and thoughts’.’I am human first and a leader second. I remember the importance of family, love, compassion and grace’.Just two of the courageous leadership statements that can help shape your leadership journey. This book is for any leader who finds themselves in challenging circumstances and needs a dose of support and encouragement. A funny, real life story from a woman who found a way through the challenges of leadership and came out in one piece.
10. Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by Jonny Uttley and John Tomsett
If we do not ensure, first and foremost, that our teachers are happy, healthy, well qualified, highly motivated, hard-working, well-trained experts, they cannot be their best for their students. Consequently, a school which does not prioritise professional learning and managing staff workload which, as a consequence, will help improve staff wellbeing is disadvantaging its own students. Whilst it is easy to say that schools would not exist if it were not for the students, the glib converse is that without truly great school staff, the students would not be taught well enough. What we need as recruiting subject specialist teachers, school leaders and specialist support staff becomes increasingly difficult is a revolution in how we treat the adults in schools.
We hope that our Top 10 Education Reads has given you some inspiration for your next education book to tackle, and if you’ve already read some of them what did you think? SupplyWell is always looking to expand our library and knowledge, what books and authors do you recommend? Let us know!